


Blue Bows and Old Woes

by femmeGeneticist



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Academy Era, Disney References, F/M, Less Than 5K, halloween meet cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-30
Updated: 2015-06-30
Packaged: 2018-04-06 23:44:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4241172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/femmeGeneticist/pseuds/femmeGeneticist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A fitzsimmons academy meet-cute. What happens when a love of Disney, a Halloween party, and a grumpy attitude combine? You get a bunch of near misses, accidental couples costumes, and the start of an incredible dynamic duo. For the Less Than 5K exchange.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Blue Bows and Old Woes

Fitz was being strangled. The unrelenting blue fabric tightened around his neck as another of his attackers moved in front of him, eyes glinting.

“I always thought I’d die this way.” He said, his voice flat.

“You’re being remarkably melodramatic, Fitz.” Came the voice behind him, “It’s a cape for a costume, not a noose.”

Fitz grunted in return. He allowed his busybody friend to fasten the blue cape around his neck.

“I’m never betting you again, Max.” Fitz said. “I’m not going to make the night in this goofy costume. And don’t think I’ve missed the joke behind making me ‘the beast’ from Beauty and the Beast. Are you telling me I’m due for a shave or just miserable as a person?”

Max just laughed as Ashna adjusted his shirt collar.

“I hope you’re happy, being complicit in this man’s crimes.” Fitz said to the shorter girl.

“Yes, heaven forbid Leo Fitz has to go to a party and enjoy himself for once.” She replied.

“Well, what do you think?” Max asked, spinning Fitz to the mirror.

Fitz took a long look at himself after his friends’ poking and prodding. They had wrangled together a decent costume in such short notice, going for the more simple costume the character wore than the more commonly chosen extensive blue suit. The pants were carefully torn and the shirt slightly opened.

“It’s not the worst thing I’ve ever seen.” Fitz grumbled, “Can’t wait to spill something on it and have to leave.”

“You are literally the least fun person on this whole campus.” Ashna said, rolling her eyes.

“Yeah ‘cause what grown adult doesn’t love dressing up for Halloween?” Fitz quipped back.

* * *

“Don’t you think the bow is sitting weird?” Jemma fussed, trying –to little avail –to see the back of her head in the mirror.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Jem. It looks like a bow.” Quinn replied.

“I’m telling you, it’s crooked. And the ends are falling flat.” Jemma did a small semi-circle around the mirror, head craned over her shoulder.

“Of course it looks weird. You’re circling that mirror like a dog looking to sit down. You look fine Jemma. We’ve been getting ready for two hours, let’s just go already.”

Jemma examined herself in the mirror, smoothing the front of her powder blue dress and white apron. “I know, but being Belle is one of those special costumes. The reader, dreaming of a bigger world than her own, finding her own way –that’s why we joined the SHIELD academy in the first place, isn’t it? To find adventure in the great wide somewhere?” She spun to face her friend, grinning, “Don’t you want so much more than this provincial life?”

Quinn laughed, shaking her head at her friend. “You’re such a dork. Even by SciOps standards.”

‘Oh my goodness, are you finished yet?” Jemma grinned, “We’re going to be so late.”

* * *

The party was already in full swing when Fitz was pulled into the door, one friend on each arm. The Boiler Room had been done up in full Halloween glory, cobwebs littering the tops of chairs and the bar, ghouls poking around corners, and an unusual eerie glow filled the room.

“Loud.” He commented.

“Come on, Fitz, why are you being such a grump?” Ashna asked. “It’s a party, you know. And you love the Boiler Room.”

“Forcible partying does not a good experience make.”

“Let’s get a drink into you.” Max said from his other side, steering the group to the bar.

Moments after, Jemma and Quinn made their way into the party.

“This is quite a few more people than I expected.” Jemma commented.

“Well it’s Halloween. Who doesn’t love an excuse to pretend to be someone else and have a drink while doing it?” Quinn grinned, moving towards the bar, “want one?”

“Yeah, just grab whatever beer is coldest. I think I need to run to the loo for a moment first. I’ll find you.” Jemma said. The pair split, Jemma heading towards the opposite side of the room, Quinn to the bar.

Fitz pushed his way through the crowd blocking the bar, bumping a small redheaded girl. He muttered an apology that was almost certainly lost in the deafening roar of the crowd and turned his attention to the bartender who appeared to be dressed as some cross between a vampire and a werewolf.

“Can I get a beer?”  He shouted over the music and voices, holding out a couple bills. “Keep the change. Yeah, it’s fine.” He took the bottle and pulled himself away from the throng of people.

“There’s no way this many people actually go here.” He frowned, rejoining his friends.

“I think Fitzy is getting claustrophobic.” Max grinned.

“I think Fitzy is getting whiny.” Ashna replied.

“I think Fitz is done with mandatory costumes.” Fitz said, taking a large sip of his beer. “If I have to be dressed up, I shouldn’t have to pay for my drinks, I think.” Fitz said, shooting his friends a small smile.

“Nice try, beastie.” Max said. “Next round’s on the bet loser. Try not to hit some poor girl on the way over, either.”

* * *

“Here’s your beer, Jemma. I nearly got knocked to the ground by some ass trying to get it.” Quinn said, handing her the drink and pulling her long red hair into a bun. “You shoulda seen him, though –perfect costume for someone who shoves strangers. He was totally dressed as the beast, it could’ve made a cool picture if you were there.”

“Really? Weird. Wonder who he is.” They sat in silence for a moment. “Alright, I need to move. Feel like dancing?”

“Yeah, sure.” Quinn said, standing.

The two made their way to the growing crowd of costumed partygoers out on the open dancefloor. The music was deafening in the center of the mass of people and as it mixed with the shouted conversations it became a near-indiscernible roar. Jemma twisted and jumped with her friend in time with what she could make of the beat until she felt a hand tap her shoulder.

She turned to find a taller man in a pirate costume and a short girl dressed as a witch.

“Are you Belle?” He asked, shouting over the noise.

“Not like as my actual name, but my costume is, yes.” She shouted back.

“You _have_ to meet our friend.” The girl said, “You two would look so good together! I need a picture of this.” The girl grinned, grabbing the taller boy and running back through the group of people.

Jemma looked at Quinn and raised an eyebrow. "So do we wait or...?" Quinn shrugged in response.

They had hung around, half dancing, half keeping an eye out for almost 20 minutes but the excitable pair had yet to return. Jemma declared it time for another drink. She managed to snake her way through the large crowd surrounding the bar and smiled at the bartender.

“Something with vodka and strawberries, please.” She said, smiling at the overworked bartender. She looked around for Quinn, who always seemed to lack her ability to slip as easily through a crowd and tended to fall behind. Instead of spotting the mess of red hair, her eyes fell on an even more familiar face.

“Shit.” She whispered.

“What’s that?” Quinn asked, appearing from behind two remarkably large Tarzans.

“ _That_ is Jeremy.” She said, motioning to the tall man standing a few seats down from the pair.

“Well, it’s not that big of a campus, Jemma. You’re bound to run into an ex now and then.”

“It’s been less than a week, I’ll take ‘then.’” Jemma said, “I’ll catch up with you later, I’m going to duck out for a while.”

“This is so high school, Jemma.” Quinn said as Jemma grabbed her purse.

“I wouldn’t know, I skipped most of it.” Jemma said, turning. “I’ll talk to you in a bit.” She then disappeared into the crowd, headed towards the exit.

* * *

Fitz’s friends caught up with him after a solid 15 minutes of searching. They found him sitting off to the side of the room at an empty table.

“There you are, we’ve been looking everywhere for you.” Ashna said, “You won’t believe who we ran into!”

“Oh?” Fitz replied.

“We totally found a Belle to match your beast. Bow and everything.” She grinned.

“Yeah, okay then.” Fitz replied.

“I’m telling you, she’s over on the dance floor, you should at least go say hello. It’s like kismet or something.”

Fitz stared at the two, expressionless.

“Well, you’re coming whether you want to or not, you’ve been a buzzkill all night and it’s time for some fun.” Matt said, dragging the smaller boy up by his arm.

Matt and Ashna managed to steer Fitz into the middle of the dance floor, where they made a large show of looking for this mystery girl whom Fitz was not entirely convinced even existed. It wouldn't be unlike them to use any excuse to get his grumpy ass up and out of that chair. He watched their search, a look of amusement slowly taking shape on his face for the first time of the night.

“Well, this has been riveting.” He said, clapping Matt on the back, “But I’m going to take this as _kismet_ that I should leave.”

“You’re using that wrong.” Ashna said.

“Yet another sign that I am not in the right frame of mind to be here tonight.” Fitz said, an exaggerated morose look on his face.

“Yeah, okay man. Whatever.” Matt said, frowning. “We’ll catch you later, then.”

Fitz sighed. “Look, I’m just not big on Halloween, okay? Never really have been. Lost interest when dad wasn’t around to take me out to get candy or whatever anymore. Whole holiday kinda bums me out, I just want to go where there's less than a thousand people and be by myself.”

“Yeah, alright.” Matt said, softening. “We’ll do something later.”

“Yeah. Sounds good.” Fitz said, avoiding eye contact. He nodded awkwardly to his friends and took off, skirting around large groups of people, towards the exit.

* * *

Fitz felt instantly improved as he left the noise of the party. His brain started turning, wondering how he’d spend the rest of his now-free night. There was that large side project he’d been wanting to get some headway on that was just sitting in his room waiting for him. Or that less appealing pile of laundry that loomed next to his bed calling for his attention. He could almost hear his mum's voice, reminding him that living alone has certain responsibilities and he needs to keep up on them and all the other speeches he got before moving to America to study with SHIELD. He had started debating the merits of going another couple of days without clean clothes when a large yawn caught him off guard.

“Maybe coffee is the first step for the rest of the night.” He mused.

He was fairly close to his preferred 24 hour coffee shop on campus so he decided to hang a right and grab the largest cup they’d sell him and then work all night.

* * *

“Thank you.” Jemma smiled at the barista as she took her tea. “And Happy Halloween.”

“Same to you.” She replied.

Jemma made her way over to a large, plush chair that was somewhat set aside from the rest of the seating in the small campus coffee shop. She curled herself into the chair and pulled out the small kindle that she always kept in her purse. Feeling a little magical and nostalgic, she opened up her copy of Harry Potter and set to reading.

She became so engrossed in the fantasy world that she missed the small chime of the front door and was utterly unaware that there was another customer in the store until she felt a hesitant tap on her shoulder.

“Excuse me.”

She looked up and to her surprise found herself staring at a scruffy-faced man about her age dressed in what she could only imagine was the beast’s ‘day clothes’ from Beauty and the Beast.

“Yes?” She said, tapping the screen to bookmark her spot.

“Sorry, I don’t mean to bother you, but have any men in red harassed you or asked for your hand in marriage lately?” The man asked her.

“Not quite yet, but the night is young. I take it that makes you the beast?”

“Yeah, long story.” he replied, a shy grin forming at the corners of his mouth.

“You didn’t happen to be at the party in the boiler room tonight, did you? I only ask because my friend swore up and down that she saw someone dressed just like you when he ran into her at the bar -literally.”  
“Oh. Yeah. Should apologize about that one. But that was me. Think my friends saw you, too. Swore they did, anyway, though they couldn’t find you when they went to show me.”

“Yeah, decided it wasn’t really my scene.” Jemma said, an awkward grin on her face. “I’m Jemma, by the way, biochem.”

She extended her hand, he took it. “Fitz, engineering.”

“So, Fitz from engineering, with a Scottish accent and a beastly outfit, how are you finding America? It’s nice to see a fellow Englishman here for a change.”

“Less gangs than my mum warned me about, and a lot more burger places.”

Jemma smiled her agreement. “If you don’t mind me asking, what exactly is that ‘long story’ that resulted in a Disney costume? Unless you have somewhere to be,” she quickly added, “I don’t want to keep you.”

Fitz paused and considered the seat opposite her. “No, nowhere pressing. Let me tell you the tale of woe that led to a strangulation attempt this morning.”

He sat and began telling his tale, one that turned into another and another until the pair found the sun was rising and they hadn’t left the tiny coffee shop.

In the coming week, she would find him in one of her lectures, he would find that she ate in the same cafeteria at the same time for lunch as him every afternoon, and they would both find that together, they were better than they were separate. But tonight, they talked about Disney and started their tale, one as old as time.

 


End file.
